Your $25k WSOP Fantasy Update

Every year big name poker pros like Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Doyle Brunson and Josh Arieh get together to do a massive $25k WSOP fantasy draft at the Aria.

Each player drafts a team of eight poker players and the team that generates the most points wins the league. For more information be sure to check out the fantasy poker story we did last year.

Last year the team drafted by Jason Mercier and Jason Somerville proved to be unbeatable thanks mostly to their Ben Lamb and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier selections.

This year the event drew 11 entrants (although some are teams) and generated a $275,000 prize pool with $178,750 for first, $68,750 for second and $27,500 for third.

We’ve officially hit the mid-point of the 2012 WSOP so it’s worth having a look at how the various teams are faring in this year’s $25k fantasy draft.

For more information be sure to check out Stan Magusiak’s excellent 25kfantasy.com, which is updated daily.

1) Robert Mizrachi

Robert Mizrachi is getting some serious help from Brock Parker’s two WSOP final tables but it’s worth noting his team is very deep and he’s getting contributions from nearly everyone.

Brock Parker: 124 points

Barry Greenstein: 83 points

Mike Matusow: 58 points

Shaun Deeb: 53 points

Michael Mizrachi: 36 points

Eric Froehlich: 19 points

Joe Tehan: 6 points

Jon Turner: 1 point

Overall score: 380 points

2) Jason Mercier

Once again Jason Mercier is killing it in the $25k fantasy draft. This year Mercier has John Monnette and Joe Cassidy to thank for his fantastic run.

John Monnette: 152 points

Joe Cassidy: 78 points

Brett Richey: 51 points

Allen Bari: 26 points

Josh Arieh: 21 points

Jason Mercier: 3 points

Shannon Shorr: 1 point

John D'Agostino: 0 points

Overall score: 332 points

3) Todd Brunson, Frank Kassela & Doyle Brunson

Todd Brunson is certainly carrying his weight on his own draft team. For those keeping track at home he’s got a second-place finish, a seventh and a 61st for a total of 98 points. Phil Hellmuth was also a nice pick.

Todd Brunson: 98 points

Ali Eslami: 82 points

Phil Hellmuth: 66 points

Jeff Lisandro: 47 points

Frank Kassela: 32 points

Ben Lamb: 0 points

David Bach: 0 points

Dario Alioto: 0 points

Overall score: 325 points

4) Brian Hastings

Brian Hastings has the MVP of the $25k fantasy draft – Phil Ivey – but the rest of his team is bringing down his chances at taking the overall crown this year.

Phil Ivey: 190 points

Shawn Buchanan: 29 points

Tom Marchese: 1 point

Stephen Odwyer: 1 point

Joe Serock: 0 points

Andrew Brown: 0 points

Minh Ly: 0 points

Mike McDonald: 0 points

Overall score: 221 points

5) Bryn Kenney

Bryn Kenney has a slightly top-heavy team that has seriously benefited from his own play at the 2012 WSOP. He’s going to need a big push from the rest of the team if he wants to finish top three.

Bryn Kenney: 58 points

Stephen Chidwick: 51 points

David Baker: 42 points

Paul Volpe: 14 points

Steve Billirakis: 9 points

Allen Kessler: 2 points

Sorel Mizzi: 1 point

Michael Binger: 1 point

Overall score: 178 points

6) Daniel Negreanu

Daniel Negreanu has a few nice picks on his hands with Selbst, himself and Katchalov but the rest of his team is really bringing him down. That Viktor Blom pick is looking pretty bad at this point as the Swede hasn’t played a lot at the WSOP and only managed one cash. At least he was cheap.

Vanessa Selbst: 70 points

Daniel Negreanu: 37 points

Eugene Katchalov: 31 points

Owais Ahmed: 11 points

Marco Johnson: 11 points

Viktor Blom: 1 point

Johnathan Duhamel: 1 point

Alexander Kostritsyn: 0 points

Overall score: 162 points

7) Eugene Katchalov

Eugene Katchalov made one heck of a good decision picking Brian Hastings. The young pro picked up his first bracelet in the $10k Heads-Up Championship to award Katchalov 113 points. Outside of Hastings, however, his team has performed rather poorly.

Brian Hastings: 113 points

John Juanda: 13 points

Dan Kelly: 11 points

Yuval Bronshtein: 10 points

Nick Schulman: 9 points

Chris Lee: 0 points

Abe Mosseri: 0 points

Andrei Zaichenko: 0 points

Overall score: 156 points

8) Justin "BoostedJ" Smith

Matt Glantz and David Chiu have both been strong players on Justin Smith’s team but that’s pretty much it. At least Fabrice Soulier had a big stack in the $10k H.O.R.S.E. as this article was published.

Matt Glantz: 75 points

David Chiu: 54 points

David Benyamine: 14 points

Fabrice Soulier: 8 points

Daniel Shak: 2 points

Daniel Alaei: 1 point

Chad Brown: 1 point

Huck Seed: 1 point

Overall score: 156 points

9) David Bach & Josh Arieh

Scott Seiver and Lee Goldman have been very good for David Bach and Josh Arieh but everyone else has pretty much stunk. It’s going to take a big effort for Team Bach/Arieh to get out of the basement.

Scott Seiver: 40 points

Lee Goldman: 37 points

Scott Clements: 10 points

George Lind: 9 points

Eli Elezra: 4 points

Justin Smith: 2 points

Mike Gorodinsky: 2 points

Sebastien Sabic: 0 points

Overall score: 104 points

10) Cary Katz

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier is once again off to a good start at the 2012 WSOP but that’s pretty much all Cary Katz has going for him so far. He’s likely hoping Erik Seidel will regain form with a deep run.

Bertrand Grospellier: 46 points

Erik Seidel: 12 points

Gavin Smith: 6 points

Isaac Haxton: 6 points

David Sands: 3 points

David Bakes Baker: 1 point

Richard Ashby: 0 points

Sam Trickett: 0 points

Overall score: 74 points

11) Sorel Mizzi

Sorel Mizzi’s team has been an unmitigated disaster with only 40 points earned. It probably doesn’t help that Tom Dwan has yet to play a single event at the WSOP. It would take a minor miracle for Mizzi to win the $25k fantasy draft at this point.

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